Naruto: Lust for Madness
by MegaKiraraLover
Summary: Szayel is dead-again-but that's hardly the end of his tale. A spirit he swallowed when still a new-ish Hollow starts acting up in his final moments and gives him a chance to make a fresh start in a different, fascinating world. NO BASHING/PAIRINGS
1. Prologue

_Naruto:  
__Lust for Madness_

Summary: Szayel is dead (again), but that's hardly the end of his tale. A spirit he swallowed when still a new-ish Hollow starts acting up in his final moments and gives him a chance to make a fresh start in a different, fascinating world—one that lacks a competent, non-pedophilic, relatively godlike scientist that just so happen to have more power in his pinky than most of the average beings within gained their whole lives. Naturally, Szayel quickly comes to the conclusion that this needs to rectified. Even if he has to kill a few people to be able to start his new life in relative peace. Post-NaruTimeSkip, Post-BleachWinterWar, diverges from Narucanon after Valley of the End, NO BASHING (unless it's actually in-character)

Pairings: Um. None outside of canon. I think. :P We'll see. (btw, sex-buddies do NOT count as pairings…just sayin' :3)

Disclaimer: The "Bleach" anime/manga, "Naruto" anime/manga, and all related properties belong to various Japanese companies and people I don't know the name of. If so I wouldn't be writing here and many of the Arrancar/Akatsuki would have survived the Invasion/Konoha…or at least lasted longer. D,:

**Prologue**

Death—again—sort of—was actually rather boring for Szayel Aporro Granz, Octava Espada and intellectual/scientist of Las Noches. After going through the many stages of grief over his own demise (most notably denial, which lasted for quite a chunk of time), Szayel was left with nothing to do as his eyes stared at the seemingly-unmoving Zanpaku-To before him and his ears heard a long, noted hum interspersed rarely with extended silence. Kurotsuchi Mayuri would have been pleased to know that his super-human drug worked to perfection.

Never one to waste a potential learning opportunity, Szayel spent quite a bit of mental time after he finished grieving over the death of, err, himself to go over all the knowledge he had collected throughout the fifty-odd years he had been an Arrancar and revise old theories, combine knowledge, take a few moments to look over his abilities, et cetera. Then he moved on to the knowledge he had obtained through the souls he had devoured over the years, much of which included memories and skills he hadn't bothered to examine in detail in favor of increasing his own personal knowledge.

Each soul a Hollow devoured before becoming an Adjuchas/Vasto Lorde/Arrancar contributed to its overall personality as a humanoid being. Although this was common knowledge amongst those who cared to find out, Szayel had always been interested in finding out exactly how much each soul affected the overall outcome. The results were absolutely fascinating; the wide range of traits and tendencies he received from each soul was just so varied!

From the Hollow of a mother who had killed herself after her child died (he decided that this was the only reason he could put up with the more immature Arrancar…and have any sort of attachment to the idiotic yet undoubtedly loyal duo Lumina and Verona) to the multiple intellects' Souls (that combined together gave him his insatiable thirst for knowledge) to a young child's Hollow (which he blamed for his brief bouts of sympathy/mercy in the past), each separate piece brought something of interest to the table.

But when Szayel came close to the center of his being, the Hollows were _much_ more influential. He found an accomplished scientist from Germany that discovered amazing things and was well-respected despite his eccentrics*, probably the base for his own fascination with how the natural world worked. A sociopathic woman killer whom slaughtered children for her own twisted ideas of youth and bathed in their blood after torturing them** was likely the reason why he was so desensitized and even enjoyed causing others pain. A Hollow composed of souls from some place called "Danvers" that was horrifying in its so-called treatment of mental illnesses*** probably led to Szayel's admittedly unstable mental state and obsessive desire to become perfect.

There was one Soul that truly caught Szayel's attention. Towards the end of his self-examination, just when in the "real world" the Zanpaku-To was touching his chest and there was one of those rare pauses of silence between words, he found perhaps the most fascinating thing yet.

A Plus Soul, undiluted and obviously not from a Hollow like every other in Szayel's being, hovering quietly as if it had been patiently waiting centuries for Szayel's attention. And as soon as Szayel noticed it, it _struck_.

Memories almost as clear as his own flooded the scientist's mind, flickering with emotions both foreign and heartrendingly familiar. A village, hidden, surrounded by trees and so colorful yet so cold at the same time; a hate-filled environment with a few bright exceptions; a brief yet tantalizing glance at a poorer village that yet somehow had much more hope; then faces, faces varying from an intelligent man older than even Barragan appeared to a man not elder than Grimmjow with a nasty scar yet cheerful expression to a young child, probably not even in double digits, bouncing enthusiastically—

Then voices began, overlapping with the images; voices varying in tone, in word, in sentiment, in everything, yet at the same time they all connected their words with one name. A name that carried power, promised the unexpected, and maybe was a bit of a joke to those whom didn't know the owner.

Mentally gasping for breath, Szayel's eyes widened as the image of a young teenager, smiling with determination, flashed through his mind at the same time as Mayuri's blade pierced his heart.

…_Uzumaki…Naruto…_

And Szayel died.

_-Lust for Madness__-_

*Albert Einstein. I decided that Szayel needed a famous scientist somewhere in there, and after some debate (I originally wanted to use Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo de Vinci, or Isaac Newton) decided Einstein would be interesting. He's fascinatingly eccentric and his theories were so complex and revolutionary that it wasn't until years after his death that some could be proven (i.e. gravity affecting even the path of light). Plus I could totally see him refusing a Konso just to see what would happen. ^.^;;

** Elizabeth Báthory, the Blood Countess of Hungary. I almost used Aileen Wuornos, the first woman to officially gain the title of "serial killer" in the United States, but then realized she died in 2002 so it probably wouldn't be likely that Szayel would have been able to get a hold of her soul before he became an Adjuchas…plus Elizabeth has always fascinated me; I did a project on her once and creeped out my Criminology class/teacher in High School.

***Danvers State Hospital. The place was notorious for its barbaric procedures and its overcrowded living quarters (it was made to hold 500 people at most, but held 2300 patients at its "peak" in 1940) and is rumored to be the birthplace of the art of lobotomy. Perhaps you've heard of it. A doctor literally and physically scrambles your frontal lobe to "help" you "recover" from your insanity. It's horrifyingly gruesome; I once saw a YouTube video of some old footage of a lobotomy…let's just say I wasn't the only one in the room to look away and gag (this coming from the girl who watches realistically gory movies like _Devil's Rejects_ just to cheer on the murderers).

_-Lust for Madness-_

**MKL's Post-Production Notes (3-15-12):** So I noticed a while ago a lack of Naruto!reborn(ish)!as!Szayel fics in the multitude of Naruto!reborn!as!Arrancar fics out there and decided to rectify that. This prologue's been sitting in my computer for about a month now and I figured I'd post it to see what the response will be. If you, the readers, give me an indication that you have interest in the idea, I'll continue it right away. If not, I'm going to continue focusing almost solely on my HP/Naru story "Wrath of Jashin" and my original fics leave this alone until I'm done with it...likely in a few months. This isn't me blackmailing reviews; I just have been allotting my time more carefully lately and each story has its own priority. Right now, this one's pretty low. So review if you want to see this continued...or don't. Either way is fine with me. ^.^


	2. Episode One

_Naruto:  
__Lust for Madness_

Summary: Szayel is dead (again), but that's hardly the end of his tale. A spirit he swallowed when still a new-ish Hollow starts acting up in his final moments and gives him a chance to make a fresh start in a different, fascinating world—one that lacks a competent, non-pedophilic, relatively godlike scientist that just so happen to have more power in his pinky than most of the average beings within gained their whole lives. Naturally, Szayel quickly comes to the conclusion that this needs to rectified. Even if he has to kill a few people to be able to start his new life in relative peace. Post-NaruTimeSkip, Post-BleachWinterWar, diverges from Narucanon after Valley of the End, NO BASHING (unless it's actually in-character)

Pairings: Um. None outside of canon. I think. :P We'll see. (btw, sex-buddies do NOT count as pairings…just sayin' :3)

Disclaimer: The "Bleach" anime/manga, "Naruto" anime/manga, and all related properties belong to various Japanese companies and people I don't know the name of. If so I wouldn't be writing here and many of the Arrancar/Akatsuki would have survived the Invasion/Konoha…or at least lasted longer. D,:

**Episode One  
****Choice to Return**

Gasping, Szayel stumbled, clutching at his chest over his heart as his golden eyes snapped back and forth in a crazed effort to find out what in all of Las Noches just happened. His incredible mind worked at its usual unmatched speed and the pink-haired man realized a few things:

One. He wasn't dead—or rather, he was functioning, since he would have been considered dead to begin with.

Two. He was no longer in his Resurrección but rather his sealed form, which brought him to

Three. He was naked except the Hollow-mask-glasses on his face.

Four. He was not alone.

Wearily, Szayel eyed the humanoid being before him, cloaked in a bone-white robe matching the shade of its long, spiky hair with a simple grey-brown Oni mask covering its face from view. The exception to this was its mouth, in which it clenched a sharp but thin knife between bared, fanged yellow teeth.

**Thy art late, Childe of the Hogyoku****,** a booming male voice that was also a thought and an image at the same time echoed throughout the indescribable area the duo was within.

Szayel bit back a scowl, favoring the being before him with a bland look. "I apologize for not dying sooner," he dryly bit back. "I'll do better next time."

**That's not what I meant,** the male voice-thought-image said, suddenly sounding much less like an ancient powerful force and much more like a pouting teenager. **I **_**meant**_** that your memories from the Descendent of the Sage, the Last Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Konoha's-Number-One-Knuckleheaded-Ninja should've come to the forefront sooner. Especially given your in-built want to know everything and be 'perfect.'**

**But I didn't bring you here to complain,** the voice-thought-image continued before Szayel could comment on its sarcasm. **I brought you here to talk about what's going to happen now that you're dead. Again. Sort of for the first time.**

"Not that this conversation isn't fascinating," Szayel interrupted before the voice-thought-image could continue its musing, "but who and what, exactly, are you?"

The being before him turned unseen eyes in his direction. **You really can't tell?** Szayel shook his head once and the voice-thought-image groaned. **Come **_**on**_**! It's super obvious! Aren't you supposed to be really smart or something?**

Narrow eyes glared at the being silently and it eventually sighed obnoxiously.

_**Fine**_**, I'll tell you, even though it should be obvious to anyone with a consciousness****,** it said-not-really with mock forced patience; Szayel's eyebrow twitched. **I'm what your old 'leader' calls the Shinigami King.** There was a pause that echoed disbelieving silence. **…duh.**

Szayel stared at the being with frank disbelief which the voice-thought-image clearly mistook as awe.

**I know, I know, I'm even cooler in person, but we don't have time to waste on your marveling at my presence. Well **_**I**_** have time but **_**you**_** don't; spend too long here and you'll turn into proverbial goo. So let's get down to business.**

"You're…really not joking, are you," Szayel slowly said/asked as he continued to stare.

**Nope.**

Silence.

"Fine, let's say I believe you," said the scientist with a glower that meant he actually didn't. "Why would the famed 'Shinigami King' want to talk to me, after I've already ceased to exist?"

**You haven't ceased to exist,** protested the Shinigami King irritably. **Haven't you been listening? You're only dead sort-of. It's not beyond my power to bring you back—which I will.**

"Why?"

…**what?**

The Shinigami King sounded like it had no idea how to respond to this question, so Szayel slowly repeated it.

**Um. Well. To be honest, it's because I need to shut up some idiot whose soul I ate a while ago. He's been clamoring in me for a figurative eternity because I accidently let his son and the reason why he's in me to begin with die. My bad,** it lamely added.

"You eat souls?" Szayel instantly caught, staring in open surprise at the Shinigami King. "That does not seem like a Shinigami thing to do…more of a Hollow behavior."

**I'm not really a shinigami king, really. More of a king of the afterlife as a whole. So yeah, I guess I'm part Hollow, too, just like I'm part Shinigami and part Arrancar and part Vizard and part Plus and part Bount and part Fullbringer and part—**

Szayel cut in quickly as he suddenly remembered the possible threat of being turned into, ah, 'goo.' "I get it."

**Oh, right. So moving on, I'm going to bring you back to life to ease my own suffering at the hands of a babbling blond idiot.**

"How would it ease your suffering?" Szayel wearily asked, not quite sure he wanted to know the answer. If it was what he suspected it was…well, needless to say he wasn't looking forward to the consequences.

**You haven't figured it out yet?** the Shinigami King asked with amusement. **Or maybe you have and you just don't want to admit it. Hmmm. Either way…it's because you hold the soul of his son within you and it has finally awakened, allowing us to meet: Uzumaki Naruto, the young boy whose soul ended up in your universe and was eventually eaten by a relatively new Hollow at the time—you, Szayel Aporro Granz.**

"So you're reviving Uzumaki vicariously through me." Szayel mused on this for a few moments. "For…his father. The Fourth Hokage I presume?"

**Wow, I guess you are smart when you get the chance.** Szayel's eyebrow twitched, but he remained silent for the sake of his own (limited) sanity. **Yup, that's right. You've probably already figured this out, too, but Namikaze Minato didn't actually kill the Kyuubi, but sealed it in a newborn child—his son as you've guessed. So yeah, you're the closest thing to the real Uzumaki Naruto I have right now—considering you hold his memories and soul—so I figured why not? Besides, even though he didn't make as big of an impact as he would have if he lived, Uzumaki Naruto truly touched the lives of many people. I think it would be for the best if you had the chance to do it again.**

"I may have his soul, but I am not Uzumaki," said Szayel with a faint scowl. "I am—"

**Szayel Aporro Granz, yes, yes, I know. I'm the King of the Afterlife, remember? Now I'm going to send you off before you really **_**do**_** turn into goo.**

A pressing matter quickly came to Szayel's attention "Wait, but—"

**Sorry, the number you have dialed is unavailable,** sing-songed the voice-thought-image obnoxiously. **If you leave a message I'll get back to you never.** Szayel snarled silently (he would have out loud, but he suddenly found himself unable to speak) and the voice-thought-image continued in a slightly more serious tone. **Oh, and you may want to head to Sunagakure after you get settled in. They're going to need some help soon enough.**

And that was the last thing Szayel heard, understood, or saw as dark oblivion overtook him once more with the image of a grinning Oni mask burned into his memory.

_-Lust for Madness-_

Szayel's consciousness rose into being for the second time in an unfamiliar place with weary trepidation, already sick of the experience. _At least this time I have clothes on,_ thought the pink-haired man sardonically as he simply laid where he woke with his eyes closed. He could hear small scuffling, probably from some type of animal, and the sound of wind through trees (the first time he had ever heard it in person as an Arrancar). The smell of nature invaded his nose, complete with flowers and grass, and dew soaked the long sleeves of what he easily identified as an unaltered Arrancar uniform.

_How droll,_ thought Szayel lazily, unwilling to move just yet and taking note that the ever-faithful Fornicarás was resting against his leg as closely as it could manage without being in his clothes, _that a Being such as myself is now in a world without any others similar to Him. A God among mortals, the only one of His kind. I should make use of this…but first I need to decide where to base my operations from. I can't just wander aimlessly or even with a goal if I have no place to return to and rest in between. It is sad that even Perfection incarnate must face drowsiness._

Carefully Szayel went through the memories he had obtained from gaining access to Naruto's soul. It seemed there were many powerful countries in this world, but one in particular held connections he could easily manipulate into place and a sense of comfort from the soul he could already sense would cause many problems in the future.

"'Konohagakure,' the Hidden Leaf," Szayel said simply to try how it sounded on his tongue. He finally opened his eyes and blinked through the rims of his mask-fragment at the sky above, watching with a scholarly interest as the colors of it blended and easily realizing it was sunrise (or sunset, but the stillness implied sunrise). "It will do, I suppose."

Climbing to his feet, Szayel dusted the dirt from his back with a huff and eyed the starkly white uniform distastefully. "These are nowhere near the level of comfort provided by my own, personalized clothes, but I suppose I can do nothing about it until I can get a hold of the necessary materials," he muttered before glancing around to get his bearings.

Szayel was in a forest, he decided, absently caressing the handle of Fornicarás and feeling it quiver gleefully at his attention. The terrain was unfamiliar, but he could sense many active souls not too far away.

"Then that is where I shall begin."

Soon the pink-haired man found himself at the gates of where else but Konohagakure, gazing at the thick stone walls. "At least the 'King' is good for something," he noted with a faint smirk, running a hand through his hair, "putting me conveniently close to my destination."

"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of madness," a vaguely familiar voice drawled. Szayel, having sensed the person's spirit energy, barely reacted other than to glance to the side. Then he blinked at the strangely familiar features of the masked, silver-haired man that had appeared and was staring with one eye at the spot on the wall Szayel had been moments before.

"_Don't worry…I will never abandon my comrades."_

Hatake Kakashi no Sharingan, jounin sensei to Uzumaki Naruto. The last person Uzumaki saw before he died, actually, just on the edges of the forest he was fighting his teammate in, watching with horror as a chirping blue technique pierced the blond's chest.

"I have heard that," Szayel agreed neutrally before a faint smirk twisted his lips, "but I'm afraid it's a bit late for simple 'signs' of madness."

Hatake nodded thoughtfully without moving his gaze. For a long moment, the two stared at the same spot in silence.

Then,

"Are you going to enter our village?" Hatake asked rather casually.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Szayel said. He knew Hatake could sense at least a fraction of his power and recognized his always-ready stance as one of a warrior (a swordsman rather) and was trying to gouge his threat level. Toward Hatake and this village, Szayel reflected as he began to smirk, there was no threat. At least not yet.

"You're from Konohagakure, aren't you, shinobi-san?" queried Szayel with a glance out the side of his mask-fragment glasses.

"I am," Hatake said. His stance remained casual, but Szayel's trained eye could see the way his shoulders tensed lightly and the slightest twitch of the index finger of his right hand toward his weapon pouch; he offered no more information. Luckily Szayel didn't need it.

"Then I suppose you wouldn't mind escorting me to see your Hokage?"

"If you want to know the truth, I was planning to take a little stroll down the road of life…"

"Mortals are always on the 'road of life,' shinobi-san." Golden eyes flashed with scorn and malice for a scant instant before returning to cool amusement at the world. "It is always full of detours, as well. Why not take a detour with a stranger? Surely it would be more amusing than wandering that road alone, if only for a little while."

Hatake finally turned to look Szayel fully in the face, his eye faintly narrowed and gleaming with a strange combination of amusement and irritation. Szayel stared back with his faint, holier-than-thou smirk.

A put-upon sigh escaped Hatake and he finally nodded. "Maa, maa, I suppose I have no choice," he announced in an uncanny imitation of Starrk when the Intruders appeared and he was told to secure the upper floors. "This way…"

"Szayel," the pink-haired man announced without more prompting as the duo made their way into the gates of the village.

"Right."

"And you?"

"Hatake Kakashi, jounin."

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Hatake-san," Szayel said in a drawling voice that betrayed his complete lack of interest in the introduction. He smothered a smirk upon seeing Hatake's eyebrow twitch the faintest amount and moved on to ask a question Naruto's Soul had been scrambling to have answered since meeting up with its old sensei. "I must say, I haven't seen Konohagakure for nearly three years now; the last I heard it was still recovering from the joint attack of Otogakure and Sunagakure and a new Hokage was settling in…the fifth, I believe. Tell me, have things settled since then?"

"Lady Tsunade-sama is a strong leader," Hatake said like he was reciting lines for a teacher, "and has brought the village back to stability since regaining her reign. We are as strong as we have ever been."

"And no attacks since the last, I assume?"

Hatake shot a sidelong glance at the falsely-bored-looking Szayel before slowly answering. "Nothing beyond the usual attempts at infiltration, no."

"Good," Szayel announced, Naruto's Soul settling and letting him finally feel at peace. If he had known it would have such an effect on his being as a whole Szayel wouldn't have bothered to do his 'Soul-searching' in the first place.

Nothing else was said between the two as Szayel contented himself with observing the bustling village around them, noting face familiar (a known hater of the 'Kyuubi-brat', a nice older lady helping a small child to his feet after a hard stumble, Haruno Sakura's mother shopping for groceries while chatting up the near-silent Aburame matriarch) and yet unfamiliar (Szayel had never met any of these people…!) scenes of the familiar/unfamiliar streets. The conflicting ease and foreignness was giving Szayel a headache.

"This is where I'll be leaving you," Hatake suddenly said, taking Szayel out of his thoughts. They had made it to the base of the Hokage tower without incident or conversation on either's parts. "The Lady Hokage-sama shouldn't be in any meetings, but you might want to check with her apprentice Shizune-dono. She should be at the receptionist's desk or in the Hokage's office."

"Thank you, Hatake-san," Szayel dully recited with a nod. He paused and gave a smirk at Hatake that Naruto's Soul assured him was unnervingly similar to one Orochimaru the snake sannin favored. "Perhaps we will see each other in the future."

"Perhaps."

Saying nothing more, Hatake disappeared, leaving Szayel to wander into the main hub of Konoha's shinobi system without any further ado.

_-Lust for Madness-_

**MKL's Post-Production Notes (3-23-12):** Soooo I have a confession to make. This is my first time writing Szayel as a main character. -pauses to allow for gasps of shock- I know, shocking, isn't it? This isn't to say I've never written Szayel before (as my favorite Espada, I've written him in many of my unpublished stories), just I've never written a story from his relative POV before, so this is a new experience. I'm open to suggestions, criticism, even blatant "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU" in regards to his character and totally encourage it. The only way I can learn is by listening to what you all have to say, after all.

I've decided that while this story will not have top priority like WoJ, I won't prevent myself from writing it and will post chapters as they're finished. This means super-varied updates and chapter lengths rather than the formulatic ones of WoJ. I think it's a nice little medium that lets me focus on WoJ and at the same time not feel guilty writing this when I should be writing the next chapter of Jashin!Harry/Hidan interraction. ^.^ So until next time, later!

-MKL, signing out.


End file.
